19.3 Radio for receiving: AM/FM/NOAA hand-crank

It is the most important and cheapest piece of communication equipment. It doesn't transmit: it only listens, but it is how evacuation, shelter-in-place, and boil-water orders reach you. A small battery radio stored unplugged also has a good chance of surviving a blackout or an electromagnetic pulse (section 19.14).

What to look for

• AM and FM bands and the 7 NOAA Weather Radio channels.
• Programmable SAME alert (your county's SAME code, chapter 1): it turns on by itself when a warning is issued.
• Several power sources: common batteries (AA or AAA), a hand crank, and preferably a small solar panel.
• USB output to give the cell phone an emergency charge (a small one: the crank charges slowly).
• Built-in flashlight and headphone jack.

Shortwave radio

Shortwave (roughly 3 to 30 MHz) bounces off the ionosphere and reaches thousands of miles. It is useful for hearing news from other countries or other regions if local stations are off the air. It is receive-only: you don't need a license. Keep in mind:

• Reception changes with the time of day, the season, and solar activity. At night more stations can usually be heard on the lower bands.
• Stations and their schedules change often; several international broadcasters have cut back or shut down their transmissions. Before an emergency, find out what can be heard from your area and write down frequencies and times on paper.
• A stretched wire antenna (several yards long, hung as high as possible) greatly improves reception. Take it down during thunderstorms.
• Many shortwave radios also receive single sideband (SSB), which is useful for listening to amateur radio operators.